TASS-FACTBOX. On December 31, 2025, Russia officially enters the New Year holidays, which will last until January 11, 2026, inclusive. The official New Year holidays, according to Article 112 of the Russian Labor Code, are January 1–6 and January 8. In addition, January 7 is a day off — Christmas Day. Wednesday, December 31, 2025, and Friday, January 9, 2026, have been made non-working days due to the transfer of days off. TASS-FACTBOX has prepared a report on how the dates of New Year celebrations and New Year holidays have changed in Russia.
New Year holidays in the Russian Empire
In Russia, the celebration of the New Year on January 1 began in 1700 by decree issued by Peter I. The festivities lasted for seven days. After the emperor's death, the tradition of celebrating the New Year gradually faded away. The holiday returned during the reign of Catherine II, but remained purely secular. The Church continued to mark the beginning of the year according to the Julian calendar — on September 1.
Until 1897, the length of the workweek was not regulated by law. Only Sunday was a day off. Factory and plant owners made their own decisions about whether to give workers time off on holidays. Typically, such additional days off were provided during religious holidays, including Christmas.
On June 2, 1897, the law “On the Duration and Distribution of Working Hours in Factories, Plants, and Mining Industries” was adopted, which standardized the workweek in Russia and established mandatory non-working holidays for all employers. January 1 was also declared a day off. On this day, two events were celebrated simultaneously — the secular New Year, announced by the sovereign's highest decree, and the religious feast of the Circumcision of the Lord. Additionally, December 25 and 26 officially became non-working holidays — Christmas.
After the establishment of Soviet power
In 1918, the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Soviet Russia, creating a 13-day difference between the old and new styles. January 1 — New Year's Day — remained a non-working holiday, while Orthodox Christmas, which after the calendar reform began to be celebrated on January 7, was removed from the list of public holidays. As part of the anti-religious campaign in 1929, the celebration of Christmas was prohibited, and January 1 stopped being a day off. The Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR “On Working Hours and Rest Time in Enterprises and Institutions Transitioning to a Continuous Production Week,” dated September 24, 1929, stipulated that “work shall proceed as usual on New Year's Day and on all religious holidays.” January 1 continued as a working day until 1947.
Return of days off
On December 23, 1947, by a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, January 1 once again became a holiday and a non-working day. However, if it coincided with a regular day off, it was not rescheduled to the nearest working day.
Forty-three years later, on December 27, 1990, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, “in connection with the appeal of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus' Alexy II and out of respect for the religious feelings of believers,” declared Christmas on January 7 a non-working holiday. The holiday's status was officially enshrined in the law “On Amending and Supplementing the Labor Code of the Russian SFSR” on September 25, 1992.
New Year holidays in Russia
On September 25, 1992, amendments were adopted to the Labor Code of Laws of the RSFSR, establishing January 2 as a non-working day alongside January 1 and 7. These holidays were preserved in the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, adopted on December 30, 2001 (effective from February 1, 2002).
On December 29, 2004, Article 112 of the Labor Code was revised, specifying that the New Year holidays would last from January 1 to January 5 inclusive, with January 6 as a working day and Christmas as a day off. However, in practice, January 6 was also observed as non-working, as days off (Saturdays or Sundays) coinciding with the New Year holidays were transferred to this date.
Since 2013, the official New Year holidays in Russia have spanned from January 1 to January 8. The corresponding amendments were made to Article 112 of the Labor Code on April 23, 2012. Of these eight days, the designated New Year holidays fall on January 1–6 and January 8, while January 7 marks the celebration of the Nativity of Christ. Non-working days (Saturdays and Sundays) coinciding with these holidays may, at the discretion of the Government of the Russian Federation, be moved to other dates.
Issue of December 31 as a day off
For the past several years, the possibility of making December 31 a day off at the federal level has been discussed in Russia. In particular, corresponding legislative initiatives have repeatedly been submitted to the State Duma, but all of them have remained unadopted. At the regional level, decisions to make the last day of the year non-working for government bodies, budgetary organizations, and enterprises are taken by the heads of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation.
A new round of discussion about changing the New Year holidays by including December 31 was sparked by an order from Tomsk Oblast Governor Sergei Zhvachkin dated November 14, 2019. The governor ordered the transfer of the working day from Tuesday, December 31, to Saturday, December 28, 2019. According to him, the decision was made “at the numerous requests of women, on whose shoulders usually falls the main burden of preparing for the New Year holiday.” Later, announcements about transferring a day off for employees of institutions and organizations under regional jurisdiction were made in other Russian regions.
On December 23, 2020, Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a joint meeting of the State Council and the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects, advised all regions of the Russian Federation to declare December 31 of the current year a day off. At the same time, the head of state emphasized the advisability of considering in the future the issue of establishing December 31 as a holiday at the federal level. By the end of December 2020, the leaders of all constituent entities of the Russian Federation had declared the last day of the year non-working for organizations, institutions, and enterprises under their jurisdiction. Similar decisions were also made at the regional level in 2021.
In December 2020, the LDPR faction submitted another bill to the State Duma, proposing to declare the dates of the New Year holidays in the Russian Labor Code as December 31 and January 1–6 (instead of the current January 1–6 and 8). Thus, the authors of the initiative proposed making December 31 a non-working holiday while retaining the total number of such days established by the Russian Labor Code. However, the Russian government did not support the bill, considering the initiative “excessive.” The Cabinet noted that decisions on transferring days off are made in each specific case. On December 12, 2024, the State Duma rejected the bill.
In recent years, the government, by decree, has been adjusting the New Year holiday days so that December 31 becomes a non-working day nationwide. For example, the 2024 holidays started on Saturday, December 30, 2023, and the 2025 holidays — on Sunday, December 29, 2024.
According to a government decree, the New Year holidays in 2025–2026 will last 12 days — from Wednesday, December 31, 2025, to Sunday, January 11, 2026. Wednesday, December 31, 2025, and Friday, January 9, 2026, were made non-working days due to the transfer of days off.